I'm trying to create a simple physical game that involves sensors, LEDs, and sounds. Ideally, I'd like a ready-made platform that I can just plug into my PC's USB port and control with software, without having to worry about breadboards, power supplies, or soldering. Is there a 12V GPIO solution that fits the bill? Thanks!
8 Answers
Check out USB relay boards! They have multiple relays and come with Windows drivers. They worked great for automating some hardware tests I did. Just search for 'USB relay board' and you'll find quite a few options.
I recently used an Adafruit board with 4 GPIO pins. It's easy to program in C and C#, which makes it my go-to for simple projects. If that doesn’t fit your needs, see what else Adafruit offers!
Extensions like IOwarrior and Labjack could also be useful for your project. They provide good GPIO functionality, but check their specifications to make sure they match your needs.
You might want to consider the Arduino Opta. It's pretty versatile and has a good interface for GPIO programming. Plus, you can easily connect it to your PC!
If you need a simple way to handle GPIO, digital I/O boards for PCs could work well. Look around, there are a few solid options out there.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'm mainly concerned about powering 12V arcade buttons for my project, so is there anything that can handle that natively?
You should definitely check out the RTK.GPIO module. It gives you 28 GPIO ports from just one USB connection, and it's pretty affordable, too!
Consider Cypress FXP or WCH chips; there are several inexpensive development boards available for those. They come with plenty of GPIO, which might be what you're looking for!
Have you thought about running an Arduino with Firmata? It can simplify controlling GPIO through your PC really well!
Great, I’ll look into that! Just to clarify, I want to stick to 12V for my arcade buttons and avoid getting too deep into electronics if possible.